Organization aims to teach students about impact of rising debt
Net Impact, an organization on campus, aims to educate students about the country’s national debt.
“Net Impact Davis is an organization dedicated to sustainability,” said Viktoria Haghani, a third-year genetics and genomics major and the Net Impact president, in an email interview. “We’re currently focusing on economic sustainability by participating in the national competition: Up to Us.”
Up to Us is a nonpartisan organization that “inspires action among millennials, the generation most impacted by the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health,” according to the group’s website.
On Nov. 8, Net Impact held a forum called “My Two Cents Day: Up-to-Us National Campaign” in Bainer Hall. The event discussed the U.S. debt, which is at $21.6 trillion. It also discussed how rising debt will affect the current generation and others to come.
“It’s important that students are aware of the national debt because it’s something that is continuously growing in the background and is easily an afterthought for everyday people,” said Kelsey Kim, a second-year environmental policy and economics double major and director of design for Net Impact. “However, all Americans will bear the burden of it, especially our generation.”
The event also featured UC Davis Economics Professor Gregory Clark.
“If we build awareness of it now, we have a better shot at managing it and not being blindsided by it,” Kim said. “As a club, our passion is tackling issues like this in order to create a more sustainable future.”
In addition to this event, Net Impact has also worked on a variety of other events and projects that promote sustainability.
According to the Net Impact Davis website, in the 2017-18 year, the organization created teams focused on one of three themes: poverty, food waste and waste management.
The Poverty team “is in the process of developing and implementing a mentorship program that helps students of Grant Union High School in Sacramento explore occupational and educational opportunities after high school.”
The Food Waste team is developing a “centralized online resource that provides transparent, accurate, and useful information on food help resources.”
Finally, the Waste team is creating a “smart trash can that can capture images of waste, process them and then automatically separate the waste into compost, recyclable, or landfill waste bins.”
“We focus on sustainability, but in all aspects not just environmental, like people may expect,” said Carolyn Chandler, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major and Net Impact director of Marketing. “By having such a broad outlook on sustainability, I believe that anyone can find a place in the club and a passion for sustainability in any form.”
Written by: Clara Zhao — campus@theaggie.org
Consider debating the replacement of state & federal income taxes on our $10 Trillion AGI[1], 10% capital gains taxes, 6% sales taxes, excise taxes, tariffs and subsidies with a decentralized form of Edgar Feige’s 0.3% flat tax[2,3] on the $4 quadrillion of dollar liquidity flows[4] through the IMS. Distribute tax revenues to municipal governments and legislate appropriations upwardly through state & federal governments after municipal community issues are addressed. Lower taxes may also help to curb the appeal of tax havens[5,6] which are a drain on tax revenues that finance our governments. QE/ZIRP/IOER, bail-in-bail-outs and welfare-warfare spending[7,8] are additional fiscal and public concerns.
[1] Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2017 Update | Tax Foundation
[2] Alternative Proposals Reform, May 11 2005 | Video | C-SPAN (second 5-minute speaker)
[3] Taxation for the 21ST Century: The Automated Payment Transaction (APT) Tax | SSRN
[4] Intraday Liquidity Flows | FRBNY
[5] The Spider’s Web – Britain’s Second Empire | Youtube
[6] [PDF] Treasure Islands | Nicholas Shaxson
[7] America’s $1.1 Trillion National Security Budget | POGO | 2017
[8] CRS Report: Welfare Spending The Largest Item In The Federal Budget | Sessions | 2012